Here Comes Another Musical Marley

The second youngest son of reggae legend Bob Marley, Ky-mani Marley, once told an interviewer that his life was, practically speaking, not his own; he was born to carry on his late father's work.

To hear Ky-mani tell it now, though _ just before a scheduled performance at the annual Bob Marley Caribbean Festival in Miami _ it took awhile to realize he was destiny's child.

The decision to sing ``came late in my life, probably about 18,'' Ky-mani, who turns 22 on Feb. 26, says by telephone. ``I always had a love for music; I would catch myself writing music, never take it seriously. Actually, I was more of a sports fan.''

How gracefully has Ky-mani leaped from sports to music?

Ky-mani's debut album, on Miami Beach-based Shang Records, comes out in the spring. In the meantime, judge for yourself: The fifth annual Marley festival starts at 11 a.m. on Saturday at the Miami-Dade County Youth Fairgrounds. Ky-mani _ who goes by his first name, professionally _ joins established siblings Julian, Damian, Ziggy, Stephen, Cedella, Sharon and grandmother Cedella Marley Booker, at the latest Marley-palooza.

Such harmony was not always the case. Ky-mani is the son of Jamaican table tennis star Anita Belnavis, a woman Bob Marley became intimate with while he was married to singer Rita Marley. Ky-mani was born in Trelawny, Jamaica. He was 5 when his father died of cancer on May 11, 1981, in a Miami hospital.

His childhood tracked a period of deep family and financial turmoil for the Marley estate. Ky-mani moved at age 8 with his mother to South Florida and lived for awhile with his grandmother in one of Miami's rougher neighborhoods.

He excelled at soccer and football, and was a star running back at Miami Killian Senior High School. He also played drums and guitar, and trumpet in the Killian band.

That discovery set off a blur of activity, with no end in sight: a batch of singles, including Unnecessary Badness and Sensimillia; a duet with DJ Petra, Judge Not; a cover with DJ Shaggy of Bob Marley's Thank You Lord; a guest vocal on Avenues, an update of Eddy Grant's Electric Avenue, by Prakazrel ``Pras'' Michel of the Fugees; and on a remix of another Fugees' cover song, Wyclef Jean's Guantanamera.

Ky-mani is presently in Miami, recording his debut album. (A projected release date of January came and went.) Meanwhile, he and hip-hop maestro Prince Be of P.M. Dawn can be heard on the dance-funky duet, Gotta Be . . . Movin' on Up, the first single from the new movie soundtrack, Senseless.

Reggae Report has already pronounced him ``a rising star destined for greatness.'' Ky-mani told the magazine, ``My hope and my dream is to continue the work of my father.''

Dillon, who says he was struck ``first and foremost by his presence,'' recalls one of the clinching moments: Ky-mani played him a demo tape of a tribute he had written to his father. It was called Dear Dad. Today, it's a single.

``Believe me, when I heard that song,'' Dillon exclaims ``. . . For this kid to do a tribute _ to me, I couldn't resist but to put it out. We didn't use that, or orchestrate that, to ride off his father's wealth.''

Ky-mani has said that his memories of Bob Marley are few but intense. His father's spirit comes through unmistakably, though, in the way he describes his own music.

``I love to talk about life and the reality of life, and everyday people,'' Ky-mani says. ``It's not really hard-core. . . There's some soft rock, r&b, reggae, but always with conscious lyrics.''

``Conscious'' is a recurring word in reggae culture.

``For me,'' Ky-mani says, ``it's just being upright, right and truthful to yourself, staying away from the negative things in our life.''